Part 20: "The monk and the bandits"
It didn't take long for Duo to decide that this 'Konan' was a very pretty country. The forest was spotted with lush little breaks of flowering plants, bushes and
wildlife. The trees were thicker and covered in all sorts of overhanging ivy and twisted brown ropes that might have been complimentary rather than parasitic if
a person looked at them the right way. The air seemed more springlike than it had in Yukimura's world, a nice tang that-
"Oh, who am I kidding," Duo muttered under his breath. "I'm not a nature person."
He gave an aggrieved sigh and plucked another pale blue flower from the long grass. Sure, they were pretty little flowers, and maybe a girly miko would have
enjoyed wandering away from her party to do something so pointless. She might have actually liked the way the itchy weeds scratched at her clothes and
stuck to her shoes. Duo could have done without it. If it weren't for the eyes following his every move, he'd have disappeared into the canopy and went
stalking after the shadow instead of waiting for it to come to him.
They'd stopped over at a homely little village the day before to stock up on supplies. Duo suspected the real purpose was a missive Hotohori sent off to the
palace before they left. Their trip to the mountain was supposed to have been a short one, and he guessed the emperor would be missed. He was curious
that Hotohori decided to send word home instead of going himself. Nuriko said they'd have to return to the palace once they gathered the other four seishi, to
summon Suzaku. Hotohori could have gone back to wait for them.
Duo thought it was nice of him to stick around and help their search, but he was still suspicious of the man's motives. He couldn't help it. Despite what Heero
liked to think, Duo was naturally suspicious of strangers. He was quick to decide when a person was likable, and rarely wrong about that. The quiet
questionable ones bore being watched closer, though. When it came to that type of person, Duo suspected he was even more suspicious than Heero was.
Just another way they countered each other. Heero was more suspicious of the friendly ones, so it evened out in the end.
The stalker, or stalkers, had shown up last night. They'd been sleeping around a fire when Duo first got that sensation of being watched. It was an old instinct
he'd picked up as a child, one of those things that kept a scruffy little kid from dozing off and being caught in the wrong place. He'd honed it once he became
a pilot, making him one of the best at infiltration. Heero noticed it a few hours later. Duo got a kick out of teasing him about that. Heero only thought he slept
'like the dead' because Duo let his guard down when he knew his partner was alert enough for the both of them. In a strange game with unknown adversaries,
Duo was a twitchy light sleeper at best.
They left Hotohori and Nuriko to guard the horses while they scouted the area. That had led to a funny moment where Duo honestly wondered who would be
guarding whom. Sure, Hotohori had the sword, but Nuriko looked more dangerous with the way he tensed up and glared at the canopy for whatever stranger
was threatening them.
Not long after that, Duo had 'wandered away' from Heero. It was classic, really. Heero had never been very good at going undercover in normal situations.
He just couldn't hide his sharp eyes and rigid, ready stance. Even when they'd gone undercover as students, Heero had still looked like a soldier. Duo, on
the other hand, could look as clueless and helpless as necessary. Not to mention that Heero's cannon looked like a weapon, even if no one in this world
would know what kind of weapon it was. Duo's little cylinder didn't look much different from that scroll Hotohori had been carrying around. As if anyone would
guess it was a scythe. Not likely.
He hummed and picked at a leafy branch. The bug-specked green looked weird next to those tiny flowers, but that wasn't really the point. Tugging the limb
sent a dark brown bird flying away from its nest overhead. Duo turned and watched it in mock surprise. That put those eyes at his back. Perfect chance for
the stalker to attack him. Sometime today would be good.
It came with a wisping sound, fast and quiet. Duo turned into the attack without any more pretense. Tiny threads whipped at him, thin with silver glints in the
sunlight, and Duo wondered if it were some sort of spider monster. Then the strands cut through his stupid little bouquet and he refined his assumption - they
were more like wire than threads. He ducked and activated his scythe just in time to keep a mess of the wires from slicing more than a hairline cut on his coat
sleeve. Ouch. He was suddenly glad they'd left the horses behind. That stuff was probably sharp enough to cut through bone in a matter of seconds.
He had one brief glimpse of his attacker, a dark man crouched in a tree and dressed like some black ninja - he immediately thought of Saizo for some reason -
and then he was rolling into the underbrush. This was bad. Bad, bad, bad. Definitely not someone worth keeping alive to interrogate. If he'd been the actual
miko, the poor girl would have died at the first attack. What was the point of stalking them for the last two days if he were just planning a quick kill?
Duo rushed the tree, not bothering to do more than block the wires. They were trying to wrap him up. If they'd been aiming to stab or make glancing blows, it
would have been more difficult. So maybe the guy had planned to take Miaka alive - assuming the original miko was his target. Duo didn't really care at the
moment. The man's elevated position was a good one when his target was out in the open. Now it was a really bad one. His scythe cut through the trunk like
butter. He couldn't help but be smug about that.
The man must have jumped as the tree shuddered onto its side. Duo didn't get a chance to actually see it. He caught a glimpse through the branches of a
black airborne shape, humanoid, ninja-like - and then it was swallowed up by a very thick beam of golden white. Duo winced at the overkill. Heero really
wasn't the least bit subtle.
"So much for asking who sent him," Duo griped loudly. He climbed his way over the trunk, getting poked more than once since the branches were still shaking
from the sudden fall. Heero met him on the other side.
"It doesn't matter who," said Heero. "Hotohori said only enemies of Konan would attack our party. It wasn't a seishi, so there's no point capturing and
questioning him."
"Yeah," Duo sighed, "I know. Still, that's one nasty smell."
He wrinkled his nose at the still smoldering black bits of ninja-like stuff that had managed to escape the brunt of Heero's cannon. Then he plucked a piece of
that wire from a bush and showed it to Heero.
"Look at this," said Duo. "Any idea how he used it like that? They don't have advanced weaponry here, so how did he use it so fast? It doesn't feel that sharp
now, but I actually thought it was going to cut through the staff for a second there."
Heero accepted the piece with a frown, plucked at it for a moment, and then dropped it. "It could have been magic, given the realm. Or some technique
requiring dexterity and speed rather than a mechanical release. It doesn't matter."
"Fine," Duo scoffed, "don't be curious. Just keep in mind the next ninja-spider-guy to attack might go after you instead of me. A gun's not exactly a good
defense, you know. And you wanted to be the decoy...hah."
Heero ignored the taunt. His eyes caught on Duo's wrist and he nodded to it. "Were you cut?"
"This?" Duo fingered his sleeve with a pointed frown. "No, but I'm going to be really mad if this ends up unraveling a few worlds down the line. All it takes is
one tear and before you know it the whole sleeve's falling apart. Stupid ninja-spider, cutting up my coat."
He kicked one of those smoldering palm-sized lumps. Heero snorted at him.
"Oh, well," Duo sighed. "Mission accomplished. Now for the rest."
Heero nodded, and they both turned to face the direction Duo had been wandering in. There still weren't any suspicious shadows, nothing visible. But that
feeling of being watched was as heavy as ever.
"Show yourself," said Heero, his cannon aimed at one spot in particular.
"Yeah," Duo called, "you might as well come out. Heero's a little trigger happy, so he might end up frying the whole forest if you push his patience."
"Now, now, no need for that!" A soft 'pop' sounded and someone dropped into a crouch right in front of them. He didn't seem to mind the way Heero flinched
and redirected his cannon at him. "I'm a seishi, too!"
"We sort of guessed as much," said Duo. "That guy didn't seem the type to hang around for days without doing anything - not as quick as he was to go for the
kill just now."
The man straightened and nodded in agreement. Duo stared at him, a slow smile pulling at his lips. He was...interesting looking. Tall, dressed in cream and
tan, with a dark blue cloak decorated with white crescent shapes dangling over his left shoulder and around his right hip. He was holding a tall staff in one
hand with gold rings on the ornamental tip - reminding Duo of Setsuna. His face was shadowed with a wide and tan saucer-shaped hat tied loosely at his
neck. Duo had seen hats like that in Yukimura's realm, on farmers in the few fields they'd passed. Somehow he didn't think this guy was a farmer.
"I'm Duo, and this is Heero," Duo waved.
"Chichiri," the man said. He tipped his hat off so it hung on his back and beamed at Heero. "No need to fry me, I don't cook well, no da!"
Duo snorted and shot a look at Heero, who slowly put his cannon away. Then he looked at Chichiri again. The man had the most unusual hair Duo had ever
seen, a pale bluish-gray pulled into a tight tail with long bangs that stood up and arced high over his head in a faint curve. Gravity-defying enough to put
Hiei's spiky flame-style to shame, Duo thought. His eyes were entirely closed in a cat-like smile. Duo found himself smiling back.
"So you were stalking us?" asked Duo. "You must have known who we were. Why hide?"
"That's a good question," Chichiri hummed, tilting his head thoughtfully. After a moment he straightened and beamed, "I'm not going to answer it right now, no
da! I knew who you were and I'm happy to join you, Suzaku no Miko, that's enough, ne?"
Heero's eyes narrowed, but Duo nodded immediately. It was enough. It was fine. So he'd found them instead of the other way around, no problem there.
That meant for the bird-summoning they were one down, three to go. Great.
"Sure," Duo smiled. "So are you going to come back to camp with us, or stick to the silent stalking till we find the other seishi?"
"I'll come with," piped Chichiri. "I'm very curious about you. I had no idea the miko was so masculine, no da!"
Duo twitched and glowered faintly. The amused look Heero sent him didn't help. He grumbled under his breath and finally sent his partner an annoyed look in
return.
"Stop smirking and tell him about the game," Duo muttered. "Don't you forget who the miko is here, ogre-seishi."
Heero obeyed, but he didn't quite lose his smirk.
.-.
Hotohori took an immediate liking to Chichiri that left Duo baffled. It wasn't anything blatant, but he nodded when they approached as if he'd been expecting
one of their stalkers to turn out to be a seishi. That, or he'd been expecting Chichiri in particular. It was the way he acted around him, not as pompous, almost
respectful - as respectful as an emperor could get with someone who wasn't another emperor. When Duo finally broke down and asked if they knew each
other, Chichiri laughed and Nuriko scoffed at the idea.
"I'm a traveling monk," Chichiri said brightly - everything he said was with that happy cat-eyed smile, "but I've never been to the palace."
They stopped early at what Hotohori claimed was the base of the mountain Taiitsu-kun had told them about. It was Chichiri who suggested they stop there
and wait till dark to proceed. He didn't explain why and Hotohori didn't ask until they'd set up camp.
"There have been rumors of unrest in this area," said Hotohori. "It will be more dangerous traveling at night."
"So why are we doing it?" Duo prodded. He didn't understand why Hotohori was so quick to listen to Chichiri's advice. The man was very likable, but he
seemed sort of...flighty.
"Taiitsu-kun told you to look here, ne?" Chichiri said. "She's very wise. If there's a seishi here, he's most likely one of the bandits. This mountain used to be
riddled with them and the villages weren't afraid, no da. Now it's different, though no one knows why. They've gone bad, no da."
"Bad?" asked Duo, with an eyebrow raised. "Bandits are thieves, right? So weren't they bad to begin with?"
Chichiri pretended to think about that, his brows drawn in a thoughtful way. Then he smiled sadly. "They've gone worse, no da."
Heero frowned at him, "That still doesn't explain why we should approach at night."
"Well, you want to meet them, ne?" asked Chichiri. "If you go now you'll be confronting them and you'll have to fight. If you go at night, you'll be sneaking
through their territory and they'll ambush you for spoils, no da!"
Hotohori gave a slow nod. "We will have to confront them one way or another. If we challenge them in open combat we risk injuring the wrong person."
"We'll risk that either way," Nuriko commented. "If they ambush us, we'll have to defend ourselves."
"No worries about that," Chichiri said in a calm and confident tone. "We'll be outnumbered and taken captive."
Even Hotohori twitched at that comment. Duo shot an exasperated look at Heero, who promptly switched into sharp interrogation mode.
"What makes you say that?" asked Heero.
"Oh, the same way I knew where you were headed," Chichiri said, as if he had no idea how suspicious he was making them. "A little neko told me."
Duo turned to stare at Hotohori, again wondering why the emperor was letting a man who claimed to get tips from cats lead their group. The emperor had the
grace to look uncomfortable. Heero twitched and glared at Chichiri, and Nuriko laughed.
"You're joking," said Nuriko.
"No," Chichiri said, as if he were surprised and amused they doubted his word. "He led me right to you, no da." He plucked the blue cloak away from his chest
and peaked into the folds. "Ne, neko-chan?"
A loud 'nya' answered in the affirmative. Duo choked and gaped at the little head that peeked out of Chichiri's cloak. It really was a cat, a little white cat with
brown fur on its forehead and a tight-eyed smile just like Chichiri's. Heero twitched again beside him.
"Cats talk here?" asked Duo.
"Cats don't talk," Nuriko told him quickly, "our world isn't that strange."
Chichiri laughed at them and pet the little cat, who gave another nya before ducking back into the cloak. He smiled at how disgruntled Heero looked, and then
handed a small slip of paper to Hotohori. "Neko-chan doesn't talk, but he does deliver messages, no da. He had this tied to his neck."
"What does it say?" asked Heero.
Hotohori frowned for a moment in clear confusion. Then he shook his head and looked up. "It says, 'Houjun, the wing seishi is a fiery bandit on Mt. Reikaku,'
and that we will find him if we allow ourselves to be taken captive." He stared at Chichiri in dismay. "...Houjun? Who sent this?"
"I have no idea," Chichiri admitted. "Only Taiitsu-kun knows that I once went by that name. I trained with her, but I haven't had contact with her recently.
Anyone she told is trustworthy, that's enough for me."
"So it's that old woman," Duo griped. "She really is manipulating us."
"Maybe," Chichiri smiled. "She's not really supposed to do that sort of thing, but since the miko's a boy now, she might have made an exception, no da."
"She did support them," said Hotohori.
"So you guys think the tip's valid?" asked Duo. "Valid enough we should get ourselves captured? And what's this 'wing' thing?"
"I believe it," Chichiri piped immediately.
Hotohori gave a slow nod as well.
"The 'wing' is a reference to which seishi it is," Chichiri added, tapping a hand on his left knee. "My symbol is here, sho or well."
"It's the same as you," Nuriko said to Heero. "You have Tamahome's symbol ki meaning demon, ogre, oni. Every seishi has a unique symbol."
Hotohori mentioned that his scroll contained hints regarding the symbols and particular characteristics of each seishi, things meant to help the miko seek them
out. Since the scroll was invalid, Duo supposed sending that little cat and note was Taiitsu-kun's way of providing other tips. Non-magical ones, since she'd
specifically said no magical object could provide hints for them. Maybe she wasn't such a horrid meddling old god, after all. Maybe.
.-.
Duo and Chichiri scouted ahead before they set out a few hours after sunset, Chichiri because he'd already proven quite good at sneaking around unseen
and Duo because he knew Heero didn't like trusting entirely on someone he'd just met. They both came back with the same news - one blatant path led up
the mountain with all sorts of pockets along the way for potential ambushees to hide in. If they approached openly but quietly, they might be mistaken for
travelers and taken without too much of a fight.
The path was hard-packed dirt. Heero had the idea to muffle the horses by tying cloths over their hooves. Duo thought that was really clever and cute
because he was sure Heero had gotten the idea from a movie or a book - it didn't have any practical application in their own world. They walked the horses
and made it all of a few yards before Chichiri stopped them. Duo was really starting to wonder about that guy.
"Change of plans," Chichiri said quietly, beckoning Heero and Duo to get closer. "I don't think we should risk the miko being caught."
Duo scowled at that, but Chichiri continued before he could argue.
"You're not a girl," Chichiri smiled. "They might take one or two men hostage, but in a group with so many they're more likely to take the women, the ones who
look rich," clearly he meant Hotohori, "and kill the rest."
"Why didn't you think of that sooner?" asked Duo.
"Well, I wasn't sure if either of you was good enough at sneaking around to get inside without being captured. Now I'm sure you are, and Heero-chan looks
perfect for a bodyguard. They won't think anything of a noble couple traveling with a guard at night, no da."
"It sounds like you're just trying to get me alone with you," Duo muttered, staring askance at the monk. "I don't know how trustworthy you are..."
Chichiri leaned back with a hurt look on his face. Duo cracked a smile and waved at him.
"I'm kidding," Duo sighed. "It's a good idea, that old 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' thing. But isn't the point of getting captured so that we'll be taken
inside and get a good look at the guys in the gang?"
Heero shook his head, "It's better to have a second group watching over the main group in case things go wrong. They'll be distracted by the captives, giving
the infiltration team a chance to learn more."
He didn't mention that he preferred having Duo not be part of the 'captured' party. Duo just had a very bad track record when it came to being captured. He
had a tendency to annoy his captors until he was too battered to even escape properly. Heero had seen that firsthand and wasn't eager to see it again. Duo
might have gotten a little calmer over the last two years, but he was still as stubborn as ever.
Duo guessed at some of the things Heero chose not to mention. It was the almost wary way Heero looked at him out of the corner of his eye - he was probably
biting his tongue so he didn't say anything that would set Duo off on him. Duo glowered but didn't argue. As far as he was concerned, Heero was a far worse
captive than he was. Heero had a way of staring down his captors as if he wasn't the least bit worried about being chained or handcuffed or the target of a
dozen assault rifles. He couldn't have looked cowed no matter how much he tried.
"Fine," said Duo, "but you better not try anything without me. We'll stick as close as we can and bust you out if there's trouble. Don't go scaring these guys
into killing you - remember that you want to be captured. No death glares, got it? You're a bodyguard. Bodyguards are helpless once they're all tied up.
Don't kick anyone to death just because they forgot to tie your feet."
Nuriko had been listening quietly with Hotohori, but that caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow at Heero, looking rather impressed, "You can kick a
person to death? Tamahome is a fighter, too, but I don't think he could kill a man with his feet."
"Oh, yeah," Duo smirked. "Heero's body is a lethal weapon. You should see what he can do with his fingers."
Nuriko's eyes went wide and appreciative, "Really..."
Hotohori cleared his throat, making Nuriko duck back and hide a grin behind his hand. Heero simply glowered at Duo.
"Well, then," Chichiri said brightly. "Shall we disappear, Miko-san? If we don't start moving soon, our bandit friends will catch all of us right here. We can't go
losing all our eggs, no da!"
"Right," said Duo. He waved a hand at Heero with a quick, "Behave yourself - don't do anything I'd do," and ducked into the forest.
.-.
Getting captured was surprisingly easy. Heero didn't like it. The bandits simply surrounded them, ordered them to disarm, and escorted them to their
hide-out. They weren't even threatening looking - armed with swords, one with an axe, a few with bows, and that was it. They looked like farmers who'd been
recruited to do someone else's dirty work. And Heero had an idea they weren't enjoying themselves as much as they should have been. The man in charge,
a young man with dark blue hair and a scar on one cheek, actually winced when they brought Nuriko into the main hall of their hideout and a few men cheered
drunkenly. Even if they were only playing villains, their 'leader' should have looked pleased at finding such a pretty, and clearly wealthy, captive.
Heero was pressed by sword-point against the wall, tied up, and left to sit and watch the festivities. They'd taken his cannon, turning and handing it around as
if it were some strange toy that might or might not be worth something. And they'd tied his ankles together. Duo would get a laugh out of that. Still, the ropes
weren't nearly tight enough. They didn't wrap each of his wrists separately before binding them together behind his back. They didn't even bother tying a
rope around his shoulders to keep his arms against his sides. It was almost as if they were hoping he'd escape. That, or they had no idea how easily a flexible
pilot could escape such careless restraints.
Hotohori and Nuriko were bound as well, but they didn't stay that way for long. Within a few minutes of entering the stronghold, Heero found himself watching
the two play the part of serving wenches to a table full of drunken, rowdy men. He wasn't surprised to find that Nuriko was especially good at it - he had a way
of flirting that kept groping hands at bay without annoying the men attached to them. Hotohori, on the other hand, he was disturbing. Heero couldn't even
watch him without his eyebrow twitching furiously. The men thought he was a woman, so he was playing along. Heero didn't know what hurt his head more,
that Hotohori was being a good sport, or that anyone who heard his voice could mistake him for female.
What bothered him most was that he still didn't know how being captives was supposed to help them find the next seishi. He heard Nuriko making sly little
inquiries about tattoos and marks, but all that got them was flashes of hairy skin and poorly done scribbles. If the marks didn't show themselves unless the
miko was in danger, just looking wouldn't help at all.
Then there was Duo's absence. The more he thought about it the more he worried. He'd sensed him nearby, somewhere to his left, when they were
surrounded earlier. But once they started to move, nothing. And there was Chichiri to deal with, too. They'd all accepted him as a seishi without demanding
any proof. Heero had been suspicious, but the way Hotohori had deferred to him made him seem legitimate enough. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't
believe how careless he'd been. Duo as well. They were sloppy. And now they were separated. He didn't know whether to wait a while longer and see if
anything came of the situation, or to break out now and track down his partner.
.-.
While Heero was getting worried and suspicious, Duo was getting worried and confused. Since they'd separated from the others, Chichiri had been
acting...normal. In a weird way. His eyes were still closed, but he didn't look like he was smiling anymore. And he kept turning his head like he was looking
over his shoulder even though his eyes were closed. Duo tried asking what was wrong and all he got was a fleeting smile and a 'shushing' hand motion.
They hadn't even entered the stronghold yet. Chichiri made one whispered comment about the others being fine and then led him to a window on the other
side of the fort. Duo glanced inside and promptly grimaced.
"You think that's him?" Duo whispered. "How do you know?"
"No," Chichiri whispered back, crouched beneath the sill beside him, "he's not a seishi. But he looks like the boss, doesn't he?"
Duo peeked into the lit room again. The man inside looked like a mottled buddha, flabby and grotesque with a too-large head, sitting lazily on a fluffy pillow in
the middle of a little smoky room that Duo just bet smelled sickly sweet. Like an opium dealer, maybe. He certainly didn't look like a fighter capable of leading
a gang of deadly bandits. Duo knew the kind - he was the sort who sat back and gave orders while ripping fist-sized chunks off a greasy chicken leg. He
dropped back and flashed a disgruntled look at Chichiri.
"Are you sure these guys are bandits and not drug runners?" asked Duo. "That guy doesn't look like he can walk straight, let alone sneak up and ambush
people."
"True," Chichiri frowned thoughtfully. "I've passed through Taito before and heard rumors of this group. Their leader was said to be very powerful and
intimidating. He doesn't look the part, no da."
"But he does look like a head honcho," Duo shrugged. "Maybe they started the rumors themselves to keep people too afraid to challenge them, so they never
actually saw what he looks like. Either way, he'd probably know every one of the guys he has working for him. You want to interrogate him, or get the others
first? He looks like he'd blubber if we caught him alone."
"I'm not sure," said Chichiri. "I don't think he'd know who the seishi is. He's probably hiding his identity. A man like that in charge...a seishi would be very
valuable as a hostage now that the miko is here."
Duo gaped, "If he's hiding, how are we supposed to find him? What was the point of getting the others captured?"
Chichiri turned a sober look on him, "I don't know. I wouldn't have done it if the note hadn't said to. We have to trust that there's a reason for us to get inside,
rather than tracking the seishi down ourselves. Do you trust, Miko-san?"
"Just Duo," Duo frowned, "and I don't know if I trust that hint of yours or not. I don't really like the idea of that old woman manipulating us, when she was
against our summoning Suzaku in the first place. She was too quick to change her mind, like she just wanted to watch us fail or something."
"Ah," Chichiri smiled, "then if it'll help, I don't believe Taiitsu-kun sent that note to me. She has her own errand girls for that sort of thing. She wouldn't have
sent a little cat."
"Then who-"
Chichiri waved a hand at him, "I'm sure we'll find out soon, no da. In the meantime...let's infiltrate the bandits. If we do it this way, we'll certainly learn more
than Heero-chan."
"How do you figure?" Duo frowned. "How are we supposed to infiltrate them - the point was not to get captured with the others, right?"
"I have an idea," Chichiri whispered, with a catty little smile.
.-.
PART 21
.-.
FEEDBACK
FANFICTION INDEX